A prime minister who ‘gets’ rugby league

Just a few weeks into his new job as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham announced that he was giving away part of his salary for the month to grassroots club, Ashton Bears. As a notorious Leigh fan – we can’t hold that against him – there has been much debate about how rugby league could benefit from a renewed focus from the highest office of power in the land.

For me, it’s not about asking for handouts. It’s about showing value. It’s about showing off what role Rugby League plays in communities, and the (I think unique) ability this game has to change lives.

Through working as one team, the Rhinos family knows this story better than most. With a Foundation built on a proud legacy of rugby league development, the charity has grown in strength, ambition and impact.

I often tell my own story, a young lad from a big family, born at the wrong time of year, in a less affluent part of Leeds. I had no business having the career that I did on the field and now sitting as the Chief Executive of one of the great sporting names of our city, in the amphitheatre that is Headingley. Rugby league gave me those opportunities.

And when we’re thinking from a political perspective, we need to decompartmentalise the impact rugby league can have. This is a sport that can have transformative powers across society.

Imagine a young person who has a fork in the road ahead of them. Down one route is crime; down the other is sport and community. If we can convince enough young people for whom that decision is binary – a 50:50 at present – that the right route is community, then we can relieve pressure on the criminal justice system.

From a health perspective, our Foundation is already doing brilliant work on health partnerships, whether that is about reducing smoking, or about healthier lifestyles and nutrition, again, we can relieve pressure on the NHS.

And when we think about employment, if we can provide inspiration and routes towards employment for our young people, then we relieve significant financial pressures created through our benefits system.

Rugby league is part of the answer and can show the power of working together.